Printing devices receive print jobs from various sources, such as computers directly attached to the printing device via a printer cable and/or computers indirectly attached to the printing device via a computer network.
Print jobs typically define a plurality of objects to be rendered on the various pages of the print job. Often, individual objects will overlap with other objects on the same page. For example, a gradient fill may be constructed by first rendering an object on the page that is the full size of the final object. Additional objects may then be rendered over the top of the first object, each of which may be slightly smaller and different in color than the object upon which it is rendered. This sequence may continue until the desired gradient fill is achieved for the final object. Unfortunately, this process results in portions of the original object being rendered multiple times, thus reducing the performance of the printing device.